Covers help me decide as well. I'll always download everything and have it on my PC, so I look for covers and, when there is any, photobooks or other bonus

I'm pretty much the same way... lol. I don't think it's weird. For whatever reason, Ayu's CD-only versions tend to appeal to me the most (and good for me since I don't care about the extra PVs or w/e lol) I did order the DVD version of Secret, though... one of my favorite covers. <3 So pretty <3

I understand that people may not be interested into PVs etc. so it would be good for them to just buy CD only version (and eventually buy some complete PVs collection later). However paying extra for BR version (just for the cover) if you don't even have BR player is kind of funny.

BTW I've noticed that people still prefer CD+DVD over CD+BR version, what means that quality isn't much important for them. It's not surprising me since for many ppl iTunes version of CDs is enough so I guess blurred PVs on HD TV are fine as well.

So disheartening she wasted PVs on meh songs like Last Minute and The Gift.

The GIFT PV can go away for all I care.
I am beyond sad because SMGO is PVless.
I don't mind Last Minute having a PV since it is the better song than that filler track

Yeah, that's waste she decided to have PV for another ballad. I'm sure a lot of fans would love to see PV for "The Show Must Go On" or "NO FUTURE". On the other hand that's not really surprising that from 2 new PVs one will be for fast song and another for slow.

Well, WARNING is the only one that I really care to get a PV out of the songs we have so far. If WARNING didn't get one, I'd be pretty bummed.

I'm so hyped!!!
I like all ayu covers, except for (miss)understood, (they are a cheap image of the bold&delicious era) Guilty and CoLOURS.

I don't really care for her PVs since she's continuing filming some meaningless crap somewhere in USA (she + some guy doing something). It's better to have no PV for "The Show Must Go On" than have something like for "Wake me up", "snowy kiss" or any with her EX.

I think The GIFT, WARNING, and Last minute were all done in Japan.

I don't have a BR player and I've three Kuu concerts in BR and preordered the CD+BR version of her new album :laugh I plan on buying one soon tho, and I bought those concerts thinking of the quality. I do watch DVDs when it comes to concerts, so I though it was worth planning long in that case

Japan is such a consumerist market that I seriously doubt they will ever stop releasing physical copies. When they run out of room they sell their older stuff to places like Book Off or Hobby Off so they can make room for newer merchandise. From what I hear the hardcore AKB fans buy 5 or 10 or more copies of the newest single so that they can vote their favourite member in for the next round of releases, then those CDs get sold off after time to make room for the new stuff. Yes you can buy older singles for a few dollars, because many Japanese just don't keep their older CDs. I think us Ayu (other Jpop artist) fans are more collectors than consumers, so we value our collections a lot more.

On my last trip to Japan in Book Off I saw every Ayu album from ASFXX up Love Songs in the 500 yen bargain section. I didn't see any newer singles, but most of the old singles were either 100 yen or 300 yen, for both CD only and CD+DVD versions. The ayu-mix 7 and Love Songs USB sets were between 2000 and 3000 yen second hand. You'd think those last ones would be highly collectible but I saw quite a few copies in quite a few different stores. I'm not saying every Japanese person resells everything they own and doesn't collect, I'm just pointing out that a majority don't hold on to their purchases.

Feel free to discuss, I'm not trying to start a flame war. I keep all my Ayu albums but I've sold about half of my single collection because I just don't have the room and don't value the older singles as much as I do the entire album. :)

For sure. We have official confirmation at least for The GIFT

Ugh cover please

Was that a joke?

Ayu had a month early leaks before...I had Rule/Sparkle 3 weeks before the single was released. It was similar with GREEN. Some of the albums also had very early leaks too...

I did pay the CD+BR version of Colours because it was only a matter of a few euros and i didn't know how BR worked at the time so i didn't know i had to have a BR player in order to to watch it :P
I always take CD+DVD version! But now that we can also get a BR version and the price doesn't really change that much, even though i dont own a BR player, i'm still hesitating about which one to take.

It feels weird to get previews for an Ayu record stuck in my head. The last time I had Ayu tracks stuck in my head was when the L single came out and I flipped my shit over the awesomeness of Last angel.

Here's to hoping A ONE turns out to be a great record!

Although I appreciate a beautiful cover just as much as the next person, at this point, I base my purchases on content, quality, and availability (like editions that are more limited than others; I'm a sucker for limited editions, lol) rather than covers as I can always choose the cover I like the most after I rip the CD onto iTunes and my iPod anyways, should my favorite cover not be on the version I purchase. I always purchase her albums that have the most content in the best quality available (the CD+Blu-ray editions) and if there is an exclusive version (like a limited edition or TA edition now that I've joined Team Ayu), that's the version I choose. I think it's interesting what factors affect everyone's purchase though. Despite the lack of emphasis I personally put on covers these days (especially for artists that I'm a fan of already), a beautiful cover or unique packaging certainly attracts attention, from fans and non-fans alike so it's definitely a very important aspect to attract people to a product.

when I was about to buy my first ayumi album, I was put off by "My Story" because just thought it was a greatest hits, and the whole package wasn't very appealingng as a first impression. IronicallyIronically I purchased A BEST instead, and the MY STORY covers remain my favourite now.

I am wearing out the MP3 file of the previews.

If all goes well, A ONE could be ranked among my favorite albums. Seriously.